T'u Lung
T'u Lung has been a separate state from Shou Lung since breaking away from its northern neighbor nearly three centuries ago. It used to be the southern part of the Shou Lung Empire. Since the establishment of the Lui Dynasty (the Green Dynasty) and the founding of the T'u Lung Empire, Shou Lung and T'u Lung have officially been at war, although the conflicts have ebbed and flowed, of course, but the provinces along their borders have become deserted and ruined from the endemic warfare. There is currently a truce between the two nations. Composed of six provinces, T'u Lung is everything Shou Lung could become but is not. The provinces are ruled by hereditary nobles who pay as little attention to the T'u Emperor as they can get away with (although the real power rests with Empress Dowager Wai Locunni Eio). Taxes go unpaid, free men are enslaved, and criminals left free. The government is corrupt on all levels, though in some rare districts a local magistrate may be somewhat honest and honorable. Poverty runs rampant throughout the nation. Unless forced to unite by some outside force (in the past this has most often been an invading Shou army) the nobles of T'u Lung fight incessantly among themselves. Many of the cities and towns are now in ruins, even those which have not been abandoned have many ruined buildings within their town limits. On the other hand, the nation's corrupt, ineffective government allows neogi, Chainmen, and pirate raids unheard of access. Only the random presence of powerful wu jen or shamans in some of the smaller villages appear as potential dangers to raiders. The nation has an active slave trade that often captures and sells Shou subjects to the Thayan slavers of Faerûn. There are over 45 powerful noble families within the nation, all of whom feel they have some claim on the Emperorship. Many of the cities and towns are now in ruins, even those which have not been abandoned have many ruined buildings within their town limits. T'u lung is obviously not a popular stop for legitimate spelljammers, taxes are too high, and someone in power is sure to confiscate the vessel if anyone discovers the vessel can fly. T'u Lung itself has no permanent spelljamming fleet, the central government is simply too weak, but despite this T'u lung does have some impact on Realmspace. Ausa province is ruled by the Ho noble family, the Ho have a private, provincial navy based in the port town of Keeling consisting of 75 terrestial warships. Five of those war junks are equipped with minor helms, though they are seldom used for more then the occasional flight through the atmosphere. Ho family junks can be identified by their sky-blue banners bearing two white daggers and three red stars. The small port town of H'sin-to in the Ausa province is the headquarters of Osu Qyu Lo'ahn , a local merchant who owns three furnace-helm equipped junks. Osu Qyu has found new challenges in wildspace, where his vessels journey in search of rare artifacts and other small, high value commodities. His expeditions are always carefully planned because of the high cost of fueling the furnaces, he has extensive trading contacts on Dragon Rock in the Tear's of Selûne. Within H'sin-to itself his ship's helms are kept secret, folk are only told that he journeys to far foreign lands. Since the vessels are gone the majority of the year this explanation satisfies most easily. More disruptive by far then the Ho family or Osu Qyu is the growing impact of the Yellow Lizards of Keeling. A pirate consipiracy based somewhere near Keeling harbor in Ausa province, the Yellow Lizards are a band of bloodthirsty pirates. members all bear a purple crane tatooed on their right arm, but seldom are found on vessels other then those owned by the band. Yellow Lizard vessels always bear black sails and banners depicting a yellow sea-lizard on a green background. They have been seen in a variety of vessels in Realmspace; junks, dragonships, and a wasp just to name a few. The Yellow Lizards began as a purely terrestial band, and still maintain a large, mundane fleet which continues to raid up and down the Celestial Sea. No one is sure exactly where their main refuge is, who their leader is or how many vessels they posess. It is rumoured that the Ho clan has some connection to this band. T'u Lung